Dropshotting for ….Pike?
The lake the cabin is on has quite a few rather large smallmouth bass, and to catch them on artificial baits is next to impossible. One of the few productive methods has been using a minnow rigged under a slip bobber. One night I decided to employ this dropshot technique as I experimented in ways to catch some of the bronzebacks. I like trying new things, see if they work, and then try to figure out what I can use it for in other applications next.
Keep in mind this wasn’t a bass fishing trip so I didnt have the traditional dropshot rig. I started with the right rod, a St. Croix Avid, 6′9″ medium light rod, with a Daiwa Capricorn casting reel. I had beefed up the line to Power Pro’s 20 lb, 6 lb diameter Moss Green braid. The right diameter for dropshotting. Normally, considering I was trying for bass I would have tied on a 6 or 8 lb Vanish leader to the hook. What I had to work with was 14 pound. So I used what I had, hoping that the invisibility factor of the FC line would still work favorably, so I stretched off a 6 ft piece from the pony spool. Normally you would use a #6 hook, but again, I had only brought #2’s on this trip, so I used what I had with me. For my bait, I had brought up some 3 inch walleye plastic minnows made by Berkley. Connecting the Vanish to the Power Pro with a double uni knot, and at the end attaching 1/4 oz weight, I was ready to try the rig out.
I went to the weedbed I had marked earlier with my Lindy buoys and let the boat drift across from marker to marker. Our lake is in what amounts to a bowl, so the wind has a tendancy to swirl in different directions. Keeping a tightline, and slightly tipping the end of the rod I began to feel light nibbles on the plastic minnow. These were small perch that inhabit this bed. Even without a significant bite at that point, it was encouraging to get some type of reaction.
As the drift continued and I worked the minnow, the rod dipped with a hard bite. Thinking a good sized bass by the fight, I began to bring the fish in. To my suprise, not a bass rose to the surface, but a 20 inch northern. The Mustad Ultra Point hook was hooked in the lip, just like the rig is supposed to work on bass. Not being disspointed in the results, I kept fishing the rig to the tune of three more pike. The largest was a decent little 30″ fish, definitely fun to catch on the medium light casting rod. Each time the hook securely hooked in the edge of the pike’s mouth.
If you prefer spinning rods, St Croix also offers a model in the same size and weight in the Avid series. Premier rods have a 7′ med light rod that will work. If you like G. Loomis rods, they have models available like St Croix designed specifically for dropshoting. The main thing, is to get a fast action tip for hook sets, some rods may be too soft for driving the hook home.
Definitely worth trying to bass and other predator fish. In fact if I was heading to known walleye waters in Canada this fall I would use this rig to entice pickerel off the bottom, instead using the more often actecpted rig of a weight and floating jig head.